


A Melody Sounds Like A Memory

by wildestdreams824



Category: Figure Skating RPF, Olympics RPF
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Childhood Sweethearts, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Song Lyrics, Summer Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-03
Updated: 2019-02-03
Packaged: 2019-10-21 09:57:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,900
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17640584
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wildestdreams824/pseuds/wildestdreams824
Summary: It’s true when people say that you can never forget your first love. Especially whenever everything reminds you of them anyways.ORTessa and Scott were childhood best friends with a teenage romance gone wrong. To this day, they never stop thinking about each other despite the time apart. What happens when meddling mothers force the two together for the first time in ten years?





	A Melody Sounds Like A Memory

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone! I hope you enjoy this! It’s based off of Springsteen by Eric Church. It’s pretty AU so keep that in mind.
> 
> Also,  
> Bold-Song Lyrics  
> Italics-Past  
> Regular Text-Present  
> Just incase there’s any confusion!
> 
> Thank you for reading!

* * *

**To this day when I hear that song**  
**I see you standin' there all night long**  
**Discount shades, store bought tan**  
**Flip flops and cut-off jeans**

  
“Alright, folks! Time for you early birds to have some fun on your drives to work this morning. To start off the hour, let’s throw it back to some Springsteen with this one.”

Scott Moir chuckled with a heavy heart on his way to practice, knowing all the words to it, “ _You_   _can’t start a fire. You can’t start a fire without a spark. This gun’s for hire. Even if we’re just dancing in the dark._ ” Listening to this song throws him back to one of the greatest, and also heart-wrenching, summers of life.

_Tessa wasn’t just Tutu anymore. Now she was this girl that he couldn’t get off his mind. He thought about her during hockey practice, helping out his family in the shop, and late at night. Sure, Scott had a crush on her on and off growing up but it just…clicked. Ever since he returned home from his first year at university, he felt that there was a different connection between them._

_More than just being best friends but Scott wanted to make sure it wasn’t only on his end._

_“C’mon, Scott! Aren’t you ready to swim?” Tess yelled from a few yards away. Scott looked at her for a moment, the most relaxed and carefree she’s been in a while. The Virtue and Moir families had all gathered at the Virtue cabin for a weekend. “The rest of us are headed down there.”_

_Smiling at his best friend, he replied, “Yeah, I’m ready.” Scott hopped from his chair and started walking towards her hand reaching out to him. He probably gazed at her a minute too long, taking in her appearance. Tessa’s pale skin was already starting to pink from too much sun and her green eyes were shaded by cheap sunglasses. Her jean shorts were shorter than what he was used to her wearing, not that he was complaining._

_As he got closer to Tessa, he ran and scooped her up to charge straight into the lake. She shrieked in his ear and wrapped her arms around his neck, almost in a chokehold, to hold on as long as possible._

_“Scott Moir, you said you would never drop me!” Tessa clings to him as they wade in the water together._

_“You know I would never, Tess,” Scott replies, “I love you too much.”_

_It might just be in Scott’s mind, but he thought that her smile faltered a little. “Yeah, love you, too.”_

_Tonight’s the night he’s going to tell her._

* * *

 

 **Somewhere between that setting sun  
** I'm on fire and born to run  
You looked at me and I was done  
And we're, we're just getting started

It was almost laughable how one summer could reshape their whole relationship. Ten years of friendship and one night started it all. Tessa thinks back to when they finally admitted that maybe it wasn’t just loving each other as best friends or even the childhood crush they had on each when they were partners for a short time.

_The radio played loud as the two families laughed, sang, and told stories around a bonfire. Setting up hotdogs and marshmallows to roast, Kate and Alma hands out pokers to family members ready to eat._

_Scott was lounging by the lake and away from everyone else. He needed some time to think about how he was going to break the news to Tessa._

_“Hey, you. Why aren’t you over there with everyone?” The one person who he wasn’t ready to see plopped down right next to him. “Here, I made you a s’more since you’re pouting over here by yourself.”_

_Tessa shoved the graham crackers in his face. Scott takes the offering and takes a bite to avoid the question further. She doesn’t let him off the hook and instead bumps his shoulder with her own. “What’s up, Scott? I can tell whenever something is wrong with you so don’t lie to me. This is supposed to be a fun weekend, and I don’t want you to be sad during it.”_

_“I came over here to think, that’s all. I can get a better view of the sunset here, too.” he shrugged, placing his free hand over hers. Tessa gave him a smile before biting into her own s’more._

_“You’re right, the sunset does look nicer from over here,” Tessa agreed, licking the last little bit of chocolate off her fingers, “You still need to tell me what’s bothering you though. We’re going to sit here, enjoy the sunset, and fix whatever problem you have. You’re my best friend and I’m not going to have you upset.”_

_Watching the sun go down, Scott sucked in a breath to find the courage he needed. “Tess, I need to tell you something. It’s really important and I don’t know if I can wait any longer.”_

_Tessa turned to him, looking concerned. “Is everything alright, Scott?” Taking his hand in hers, she gave it a squeeze to calm him down._

_He looked straight at her. “Tessa Virtue, I don’t want to just be your best friend anymore. I know I tell you that I love you all the time. Now it’s more than that. I wanted to tell you how much you mean to me and what I wanted our relationship to be like now. I want you to be my girlfriend and take you out on dates. I’ll be able to kiss you like I’ve been wanting to for so long. I just wanted you to know, before I lost my mind not telling you.”_

_Scott is breathless after letting it all out. Tessa stared at him silently for a few minutes._

_“Tess, say something, please?” he pleaded, resting his other hand on her cheek._

_He expected the worst outcome, just in case she didn’t feel the same way. However, he didn’t have to worry about that._

_Tessa’s smile returns. Giving a little laugh, she threw her arms around him and kissed him soundly on the lips. After they broke apart, Scott’s shocked face made her laugh again._

_“I wish you would’ve said something earlier. I don’t want to just be your best friend either, Scott.” Tessa said, her arms still pulling him close._

_Scott went to go say something else before his mother shouted, “Scotty! Tessa! Come get some s’mores!” Sighing, Scott stood up and then helped Tessa stand too. He held out his hand for her, locking them together on the way to their families._

_“Hey, Tess? I get to tell everyone that you’re my girlfriend right?”_

_Tessa raised an eyebrow at him. “Ask me properly after I’ve had my s’mores.”_

* * *

 

  _ **I bumped into you by happenstance**_  
_**You probably wouldn't even know who I am**_  
_**But if I whispered your name**_  
_**I bet there'd still be a spark**_

Tessa avoided Ilderton as much as possible, causing a much less likely chance of the two running into each other. Even then, she doubted Scott would recognize her after all these years. Gone was the girl in shorts and tank tops to show off her new piercing. Hair dyes and makeup like any girl from the 2000’s, Tessa was a normal teenager trying to impress a boy.

Now stood a mature woman, dressed in suits, high heels, and darker hair. From her time in Paris, Montréal, and New York City, Tessa’s fashion sense has drastically changed along with her career. She wasn’t the only one who changed. She talked to Alma Moir a lot and was shown pictures and told stories of Scott. He grew up into a successful and good-looking man, just like she expected. Pictures can only show so much though, she doubted they’d recognize the other at this moment in their lives.

Tessa kept up with Scott’s team as much as she can, attending games whenever she was in Toronto. She knew how much hockey meant to him, being by his side ever since he dedicated his life to it. Tessa always wore his jersey number and screamed whenever he won the winning point.

“C’mon, Tessa!” Jordan yells up to her from the bottom of the stairs, “if you don’t hurry your ass down here you’re going to miss the start of the game!”

Trudging down to the front row seats, Tessa sat herself so close to the rink that she could see the ice shavings fly. “Calm down, I’m right here. How’d you get these tickets anyway?”

Jordan just shrugged and drank her beer, “Scott gave them to me. He knew I was going to be in Toronto for work and asked if I’d wanted to go to the game.”

Tessa stiffened in her chair but tried to seem disinterested, not doing a very good job at hiding it from her sister. “That’s nice of him to think of you.”

The players had skated onto the ice so Jordan got distracted for a moment. “Yeah, it was. He was sorry that he couldn’t say hello after the game though, since they’ve got all of the press stuff. He said it would take a long time before he finally gets out.”

Hiding in the stands, she cheered along the fans as the third quarter came to an end. The players lazily skated a loop around the rink and wave to everyone. Knowing he was going to pass by their section, Scott went to wave and smile since her sister was there. Though instead of the happy smile they both expected, his eyes widened and his jaw slightly dropped.

Scott slowed down a little as if he couldn’t believe she was there. Right before he gets pushed to continue skating, he locked eyes with Tessa. His face could only be described as shocked, hurt, and maybe even a little bit of hope etched on it.

Both sisters saw him say something to them, but Jordan didn’t catch it. “Hey Tess, did you hear what he said? I couldn’t understand over everyone yelling.”

Trying to hide the tiny tears in her eyes, she nodded. “He said Tessa.”

* * *

 

 **Back when I was gasoline**  
**And**   **this** **old** **tattoo** **had** **brand** **new** **ink**  
**And** **we** **didn't** **care** **what** **your** **mom** **would** **think**  
**About** **your** **name** **on** **my** **arm**

Whenever he visited home, Scott still made a point to see Kate Virtue. She was like a second mother to him throughout all of these years, even after Tess and him had their falling out. Ringing the doorbell, he shuffled on the porch. _ **  
**_

Swinging open the door, Kate exclaims, “Hi, Scott! I was just on the phone with your mother! She told me you were going home so I was wondering if you were going to drop by on the way.”

“I’m not sure I want to know what the two of you were talking to.”

Hanging his coat on the hook, his shirt sleeve lifted up to reveal the one thing that both of their mothers never approved of. “Scotty, why do you still have this?” Kate said softly, her gentle eyes trying to coax him into an explanation.

He rubbed the faded tattoo on his upper arm, “It doesn’t really bother me. I forget about it most of the time.”

Kate laughed, both knowing that he was lying, “You know, I was so upset when you brought my daughter home with a bellybutton piercing. Even worse, you had her name scrawled on your arm. Tessa loved it though, couldn’t stop talking about it for days.”

Scott couldn’t help but crack a smile, “We were stupid kids back then. At least there were no matching tattoos? Tess is smarter than me though. She would’ve gotten it removed as soon as possible.”

Kate Virtue raised an eyebrow as she hands Scott some hot chocolate. “I’m not so sure. She’s still got that stupid piercing.”

Scott’s half-smile turned into a full one, internally happy that the both of them kept something from their time together.

* * *

 

 _**When you think about me, do you think about seventeen** _  
_**Do you think about my old jeep** _  
_**Think about the stars in the sky** _  
_**Funny how a melody sounds like a memory** _  
**_Like a soundtrack to a July Saturday night_ **

“ _Do you think we’ll still like this song when we’re old?” Tessa asked while weaving their fingers together. Like usual, she picked out an oldies song for them to listen to. They laid there in the back of his Jeep looking at the stars and enjoying the last moments of summer together. He was off to university again and she was headed to an elite ballet school._

_“Of course, because every time we hear it we’ll think of each other. Every time I even hear a certain song, I’ll think of a special time with you.” Scott replies, resting their connected hands on his chest, “Bonfires, swimming in the lake, skating together, we’ve got so many memories and we’ll just make more.”_

_Satisfied with his answer, Tessa laid her head down on his shoulder and enjoyed the stars. It was a peaceful silence between the two before Scott blurts out what had been on his mind._

_“I’m going to marry you one day, Tessa Virtue,” Scott told her, “When, I’m a big shot hockey player and you’re a beautiful ballerina, I’m going to get down on one knee and propose. Just you wait, I promise it will happen, and I never go back on my promises to you.”_

_Tessa looked up at him with all the hope and happiness in her eyes, “Well, you better keep that promise, because my answer is going to be a yes if you do.”_

_Scott hugged her as close to him as humanly possible and mumbled into her hair, “I’m always going to love you, Tess.”_

_“And I love you, Scott Moir, for the rest of our lives.”_

The two of them didn’t realize that would be the last night they’d spend together.

* * *

 

 _**Springsteen, Springsteen** _  
_**Whoa-oh-oh-oh** _  
_**Whoa-oh-oh-oh** _  
**_Whoa-oh-oh-oh_ **

“Tessa! Alma needs to have those skates for her tonight. I knew you were on your way home so I volunteered you to pick them up for her since Ilderton wasn’t too far from here.” Nervously clutching the steering wheel, Tessa started to turn towards the familiar skating rink.

“Mom, I can’t. What if he’s there? There’s no way I’ll be able to face him after being away for more than ten years.” Hearing the aggravated huff, she cringes at her mother’s disappointment.

“Alma told me that you just need to pick it up from one of the workers closing up. Scott doesn’t get to visit home as much anymore. He’ll be home with his family, nowhere near you.”

The way her mother worded it definitely stung but was the truth. Tessa just had to suck it up and move on. Finally parking her car next to the old building, she sees only one other car there. A good sign.

Her heels clacked against the vinyl flooring leading up until the rink, making a much bigger ruckus than she hoped. Squeaking the door open and seeing no one there, Tessa rolls her eyes.

Of course, she made a trip out here for nothing. Tessa shouted, “Hello? I’m here to pick up a package for Alma.” When no one answered, she started to get angry and shouted again, “I don’t have time for this! I saw your car out front so I know you’re here. Please, I finally have time to spend with my family, so I would really not prefer to be in my ex-boyfriend’s-”

Tessa comes to a halt suddenly. Scott was standing in front of her for the first time in over ten years.

* * *

 

 _**Funny how a melody sounds like a memory** _  
_**Like a soundtrack to a July Saturday night** _

Seeing Tessa in the rink just about sucked all the air right out of him. When Kate called him saying she had a package to pick up, the last person he expected to drop by was Tessa Virtue. In place of the sweet and shy seventeen year-old girl he fell in love with was a strong, confident woman. One who wasn’t expecting to see him there either.

“Scott?” she said, snapping him out of his daze, “I’m here to pick up skates for your mom.”

He shakes his head and bites the inside of his cheek so that he doesn’t say something bitter. “I thought that your mother was coming. I wouldn’t think you would be in town, let alone in a rink.”

“I had time off from work, figured I should visit my family for a few days.” Scott snorted and turned on his heels, walking towards the office.

“Never stopped you from staying away all those years before, Tess.”

“Oh you have no room to talk, Scott Moir! You’re too busy to come back home too,” she hissed, eye narrowing, “We all have our obligations. Mine are just as important as yours.”

Once he reached the office, Scott turned and smirked at her. “Keeping up with me, T? It’s okay, your mom tells me all about you. How your career is going, how much she disliked your past boyfriend, and how lonely you are in Montréal, she likes to gossip about everything.”

She gasped, not believing how much her mother rattled off to him. “None of that is true! I am perfectly content in Montréal!”  
  
Scott raised an eyebrow at her before turning back around to grab a box and hand it to her. “Whatever helps you sleep at night, Tess. You don’t have to admit to me how you cried yourself to sleep every night for three months because you had no friends or family there.”

“Well, don’t get too cocky, mister. Your mother told me how you had to get a dog as soon as you got to Toronto because you felt so alone.”

I’m not the one who was so caught up in their work that I missed Christmas this past year.” Scott pointed out, now going for a deeper wound.

“At least I didn’t miss my mother’s birthday three years in a row,” Tessa throws back at him.

“Ouch, Virtch. I’m surprised you even knew about that one, seeing as we haven’t talked to each other in more than a decade. Seems like you still know so much about me but I shouldn’t be surprised. Not surprised, just disappointed because you kept in contact with everyone in my family except for me.”

“Communication goes both ways, Scott. Besides, you certainly know too much about me already from my mother.” Tessa spit out, noting Scott’s cold stare at her, “I had to focus on something else. Once you gave up, I gave up.”

Scott rolled his eyes at that, “Don’t you ever put all the blame on me, Tessa. I never gave up on us. Maybe you never did either but it doesn’t matter now, does it? It’s over and we’re never going to be able to forgive and forget. It’s too late for that.”

Tessa turnt her back to him to compose herself for a minute before whipping back around to talk to him, “Why’d we even try? We were just stupid kids, now look at us. We ruined everything.”

Scott was leaning against the door, almost in defeat. Looking up at her with a blank face, Scott replied, “I don’t know. I thought about it for years and whether it was really worth it. Would I still have my best friend if I hadn’t said anything?”

Neither knowing the answer to that, they stewed on that while still trying to outwit the other.

* * *

 

 _**Springsteen** _  
_**Springsteen** _  
**_Whoa Springsteen_ **

Both steaming with rage from their pent-up emotions, Tessa and Scott stormed away from the other.

Tessa grabbed Alma’s box, the reason she originally came, and started to walk quickly towards the double doors. Realizing that sending her to the rink was just a setup between their two mothers crushed her heart. She didn’t need her mother’s nagging about this evening’s conundrums.

“Tutu?” Scott called for her quietly, “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said all of those hurtful things.” Stopping in her tracks, Tessa put down the box and turned back to see a crestfallen Scott.

Pausing for a minute, Tessa shakes her head. “Everything I’ve ever done is for my career. You were right to call me out on never coming home.”

Scott takes a cautious step towards her, “No, it was wrong of me, T. Besides, look at your life! Look at what you accomplished! Even if it was shorter than you wanted, you had an amazing dance career. And now, you’re setting your reputation up in the fashion world. Tess, you’re going to have a great future.”

“But you have so much balance in your life, Scott,” Tessa replied, crossing her arms. Stand-offish, but still wanting to continue the conversation, she waited for his answer. She could tell that he was thinking of the right way to approach it.

“Really, Tessa? I live with my dog in an apartment. I never see my family anymore. I haven’t had a girlfriend in over two years. She broke up with me because I moved to Toronto for hockey. Everything I have done recently has been for my career, too. I definitely have no balance in my life.”

The former childhood best friends/teenage lovers were standing right in front of each other. Neither wanted to make the first move for the past years.

Tessa confessed, “I just wanted you to be happy, so happy that you would forget about me in your life. Move on to better things throughout the years and realize that you never needed me. Though secretly I was hoping that you wouldn’t forget about me, maybe even have feelings for me still.”

Scott stayed silent after this, processing it all. It’s what he had been waiting for a long time, a reason why they never stayed in touch, why it never worked out between them.

Suddenly, he wrapped her tightly in his arms, like she might just fade away. Digging his face into her neck, Tessa sobbed into his chest and squeezed herself around him.

“I still have my tattoo,” he whispered, “I guess I was hoping one day you would come around still loving me. I know it’s been so long but there are so many things that remind me of you and I can’t help it. Songs, Jeeps, even s’mores, I can’t look at without thinking of you. You were my first love, Tess. That’s never going to be topped for me.”

“Scotty?” she continues, “You know I loved you. Loved you for years, and I don’t think those feelings ever went away.”

Leaning away from his hold, Tess looked up to him and smiled at him. “Why don’t we go out and talk? Without our mothers trying to force us together.”

Scott laughed at that, finally realizing the whole situation, “That sounds a lot better. Let’s catch up on our own terms.”

And with new promises sworn, the two rekindled friends, and hopefully lovers, walked out of the rink hand in hand to a familiar tune faintly playing from the overhead radio.

“ _You can't start a fire. You can't start a fire without a spark. This gun's for hire. Even if we're just dancing in the dark”_

 

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fic so I hope it’s not too bad for my first one!
> 
> Comments and Kudos are much appreciated!


End file.
